For some people being newly diagnosed with a clinical mental illness is a scary thing. Many thoughts may run through the minds of someone who is newly diagnosed. Some of these thoughts may be "Am I a freak of nature" or "I am a shame to my family" and many other negative thoughts. It is very rare for someone to feel a sense of relief concerning their diagnosis. I remember when I was first diagnosed when I was sixteen I felt a sense of great shame and anger. Actually, it was that shame and anger that caused me to lose my faith in God temporarily. I thought that the Lord must hate me for making me like my mother and therefore I should hate Him back. Thankfully, the Lord was patient and good to me because He drew me back to Himself. So, please understand that I know how you must be feeling right now because I've been there. The purpose of this blog is to give you some encouragement from His word so that you can freely and bravely embrace your new diagnosis. Perhaps one day you can even see your diagnosis as a gift from God like I do, but I know that will take some time. I hope that after you read this blog you will walk away feeling a lot better about your mental illness. There is so much I can say to encourage you concerning this topic but for the sake of this blog, I will focus on three points: Not Alone, Working For Good, and God of all comfort. I will now elaborate on each of these points.
Not Alone
According to NAMI (National Association of Mental Illness), over 20% of the nation's population struggles with a clinical mental illness and some estimates say it is over 50%. This means that at least 20-50% of the population have mental illness. In other words, mental illness is fairly common in our country! You are not alone in your struggle and I would say that you are the norm. When I was younger, this fact was probably the most comforting for me to hear because I was believing the lie that I was not normal. However, I now realize that was a lie straight from the pit of hell. I have found that as I open up to people concerning my own mental health struggles, so many other people can relate to me. I believe that as you open up about your own mental health struggles, you will see the same exact results too. So, next time the enemy whispers in your ear that you are a freak, just remind yourself of this very important fact. It is even true concerning people inside the Church. I would daresay that over half of the people inside any given church congregation struggle with some form of mental illness. So, do not fall for the lie that says you are the only Christian who struggles with this because you most certainly are not. I do not care how "well-off" many Christian men and women seem on the surface because as you get to know them on a personal level, you will find out they are just like you and me on so many different levels. This is why Paul can tell us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that,
"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it"
Paul is telling you and me that everything we experience is similar to what all people experience. None of us are "freaks of nature" in God's universe. However, God will always provide us with a way out of our temptations and trials. For those of us with clinical mental illness, that "way out" is the use of psychiatric medication and therapy. We can trust our psychiatrists and therapists to understand us enough to be able to treat us appropriately.
Working For Good
My absolute favorite verse in the book of Romans is Romans 8:28. Paul tells us in that verse,
"...and we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose"
This is such a beautiful and profound truth! Did you notice how Paul is not saying that everything we go through in this life will be good? He does not make that promise, but what he does promise us is that all things, whether good or bad, will work together for our good. Imagine a beautiful tapestry for a moment. It is made of many different designs and if we signal any of them out the image will not look good. However, if we look at the tapestry as a whole, we will see a gorgeous picture. In the same way, if we signal out any one of our many trials, we will not see the bigger picture. It's only when we look at how all of our trials are working together that will notice how it all works for our good. A few years ago, I had a really bad experience with a medication that almost killed me and I wound up in the hospital for three months. During that time, I became increasingly angry with God, but as I began to realize the good that came out of that experience, my anger subsided. Some of the good that came from that experience was that I was no longer overly medicated, my relationship with my wife was restored, and my faith in God grew more intimate too. The Scriptural truth behind Romans 8:28 really proved true in my life and I just know it will prove true in your life too. No matter what you experience just remind yourself that it is working out for your good. I understand it may be difficult at times to see this happen, but God does not lie to us. We can trust Him over our fickle emotions.
God of All Comfort
When we turn to 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, we read the following words from the Apostle Paul,
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all of our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God"
Here Paul is telling us that God is the God of all comfort and that as He comforts us in all of our affliction, we can comfort those in ANY affliction. This is particularly remarkable for those of us with clinical mental illnesses because a lot of times we do not feel very useful in the Body of Christ. However, it is because of the comfort we receive from the Lord that we can comfort other people. The reason why we can comfort other people who are in ANY affliction is because, as I have already pointed out, there is nothing we experience that is uncommon to man. Sometimes we can fall into the trap of thinking that we cannot help others unless we have a Masters's degree or a Ph.D, but that is entirely untrue. According to this text, we are already equipped to be able to offer comfort to those who are afflicted because we have experienced comfort from God Himself, who is the source of all comfort. This is why I find support groups to be more helpful than therapy groups. In therapy groups, the group is led by an "educated" therapist who cannot really relate to us. However, in a support group, the group is led by someone who also has a mental illness, and thus they can relate to us more. It is even better to find a Christian mental health support group because now you have a group led by someone with mental illness who also will speak on the faith that we all share in common with one another.
I hope that this blog really does encourage you as you learn how to manage your own mental health. Always keep these Scriptural truths close to your heart and in your mind. I wish when I was younger I had someone tell me all this because it could have saved me a whole lot of trouble. I hope this word of encouragement saves you from a lot of trouble and heartache. Thank you very much for taking the time to read my blog and may the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
Not Alone
According to NAMI (National Association of Mental Illness), over 20% of the nation's population struggles with a clinical mental illness and some estimates say it is over 50%. This means that at least 20-50% of the population have mental illness. In other words, mental illness is fairly common in our country! You are not alone in your struggle and I would say that you are the norm. When I was younger, this fact was probably the most comforting for me to hear because I was believing the lie that I was not normal. However, I now realize that was a lie straight from the pit of hell. I have found that as I open up to people concerning my own mental health struggles, so many other people can relate to me. I believe that as you open up about your own mental health struggles, you will see the same exact results too. So, next time the enemy whispers in your ear that you are a freak, just remind yourself of this very important fact. It is even true concerning people inside the Church. I would daresay that over half of the people inside any given church congregation struggle with some form of mental illness. So, do not fall for the lie that says you are the only Christian who struggles with this because you most certainly are not. I do not care how "well-off" many Christian men and women seem on the surface because as you get to know them on a personal level, you will find out they are just like you and me on so many different levels. This is why Paul can tell us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that,
"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it"
Paul is telling you and me that everything we experience is similar to what all people experience. None of us are "freaks of nature" in God's universe. However, God will always provide us with a way out of our temptations and trials. For those of us with clinical mental illness, that "way out" is the use of psychiatric medication and therapy. We can trust our psychiatrists and therapists to understand us enough to be able to treat us appropriately.
Working For Good
My absolute favorite verse in the book of Romans is Romans 8:28. Paul tells us in that verse,
"...and we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose"
This is such a beautiful and profound truth! Did you notice how Paul is not saying that everything we go through in this life will be good? He does not make that promise, but what he does promise us is that all things, whether good or bad, will work together for our good. Imagine a beautiful tapestry for a moment. It is made of many different designs and if we signal any of them out the image will not look good. However, if we look at the tapestry as a whole, we will see a gorgeous picture. In the same way, if we signal out any one of our many trials, we will not see the bigger picture. It's only when we look at how all of our trials are working together that will notice how it all works for our good. A few years ago, I had a really bad experience with a medication that almost killed me and I wound up in the hospital for three months. During that time, I became increasingly angry with God, but as I began to realize the good that came out of that experience, my anger subsided. Some of the good that came from that experience was that I was no longer overly medicated, my relationship with my wife was restored, and my faith in God grew more intimate too. The Scriptural truth behind Romans 8:28 really proved true in my life and I just know it will prove true in your life too. No matter what you experience just remind yourself that it is working out for your good. I understand it may be difficult at times to see this happen, but God does not lie to us. We can trust Him over our fickle emotions.
God of All Comfort
When we turn to 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, we read the following words from the Apostle Paul,
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all of our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God"
Here Paul is telling us that God is the God of all comfort and that as He comforts us in all of our affliction, we can comfort those in ANY affliction. This is particularly remarkable for those of us with clinical mental illnesses because a lot of times we do not feel very useful in the Body of Christ. However, it is because of the comfort we receive from the Lord that we can comfort other people. The reason why we can comfort other people who are in ANY affliction is because, as I have already pointed out, there is nothing we experience that is uncommon to man. Sometimes we can fall into the trap of thinking that we cannot help others unless we have a Masters's degree or a Ph.D, but that is entirely untrue. According to this text, we are already equipped to be able to offer comfort to those who are afflicted because we have experienced comfort from God Himself, who is the source of all comfort. This is why I find support groups to be more helpful than therapy groups. In therapy groups, the group is led by an "educated" therapist who cannot really relate to us. However, in a support group, the group is led by someone who also has a mental illness, and thus they can relate to us more. It is even better to find a Christian mental health support group because now you have a group led by someone with mental illness who also will speak on the faith that we all share in common with one another.
I hope that this blog really does encourage you as you learn how to manage your own mental health. Always keep these Scriptural truths close to your heart and in your mind. I wish when I was younger I had someone tell me all this because it could have saved me a whole lot of trouble. I hope this word of encouragement saves you from a lot of trouble and heartache. Thank you very much for taking the time to read my blog and may the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
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